Why Online Video is the Future of Internet Marketing

The Huffington Post recently declared that Video Marketing was “the new darling of the marketing world”. And according to Syndacast, 74% of all Internet traffic in 2017 will be video.

With video becoming increasingly more popular and together with enhanced analytics, it is vital that marketers either continue or start to engage with their customers through this channel.

Video is now an incredibly important element of marketing on the Internet, with more and more businesses from almost every possible industry taking advantage of the online videos in order to advertise their brands, products, and services.

Of course, videos, or motion pictures are nothing new in marketing, with television adverts being around ever since the early TV sets. However, today’s video marketing isn’t limited only to costly, feature-length television commercials.

Thanks to social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, it’s now possible to share your marketing videos online with a wider and highly targeted audience. You can even share live videos.

YouTube, the biggest video sharing company online, is also the first choice of video marketing platform chosen by the companies who are taking full advantage of this marketing phenomenon.

Video content has been proven to be the most effective of the majority of other forms of online content. When watching a video, customers are more likely to remember the video than they are to remember written content or an image, for example. Because of this, marketing videos tend to have a much bigger impact on potential new customers as opposed to a marketing banner, for example.

This, along with the fact that video can attract a much wider audience than most other forms of content, is one of the main reasons as to why video content is the latest big trend in marketing, and you should definitely utilise its powers for your business, regardless of it’s size.

Video can be an extremely powerful medium when it comes to connecting with and communicating with your audience. Many businesses have found that the use of video allows them to better present their brand ‘voice’ and image in a way that customers will be able to relate to personally. It helps their customers to engage with their business.

Since the video medium is so versatile and relatively cheap to produce, any type of business can use it in order to reach out to their customers. This is a huge benefit to small and medium sized businesses. It no longer costs half your budget to make a good marketing video. Thanks to modern technology, it’s possible to put together a good video using a basic camcorder or even a smartphone.

Video editing software can be obtained cheaply or even for free, and you don’t always need to hire actors, either – sometimes animations or explainer videos can be just as powerful when it comes to getting a message across. Because of this, video marketing is also increasing in popularity because it has become significantly more accessible to smaller businesses.

There are a huge number of platforms to choose from when it comes to spreading your video content – YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and blogs to name just a few. So there really isn’t any reason why you shouldn’t be seriously thinking about using video content and video marketing in order to reach a wider audience and spread the word further about your brand, products and services.

Your Customers love to Share Video Content
Business owners who keep up with marketing trends will know that video marketing is huge. Your customers, who are active on social media are used to seeing videos and love to share the ones that they enjoy and can relate to.

More and more social networks are adapting to the latest developments in video marketing. For example Facebook’s recently launched their new ‘Live’ feature, which allows both company and personal Facebook account holders to post a live video feed recorded from their smartphone to their Timeline.

Facebook and the other social media platforms are making it very easy for businesses like yours to reach their target audience and attract new customers. As a small business owner, now is the time to get involved with this new trend in order to make sure that you don’t get left behind.

Types of Video Content
Video content is a very effective and powerful way to get a message across, and there are many different types of video content, which you may consider using for your business and marketing purposes.

One of the most popular types of video content is marketing content. This is where you will come up with a short movie that convinces customers to express interest in your brand.

Some marketing videos may focus on the brand as a whole, whilst others may focus on a particular product or service. You could use actors, animations, or something else in order to put together a marketing video. Hand-drawn explainer videos are very popular.

Another type of marketing video that you might come across in your use of video content is the video product review.

Product reviews are hugely important and very important in the world of online shopping, with many people relying on the reviews left by others when it comes to purchasing products and services online. However, video product reviews can have a huge effect on the viewer’s decision than standard written reviews.

One of the best ways to get video product reviews is to send samples of your products to vloggers (video bloggers) in the industry and ask them to leave you a video review.

This is also a situation where you could use apps such as Snapchat, which allow users to leave small videos in succession on their personal Snapchat ‘story’.

Another type of video content you might want to use is a video product description. With online shopping becoming more and more popular as an increasing number of people are opening their laptops or tablets rather than hitting the high street, competition for businesses online has grown significantly.

This has led to online retailers looking for new and innovative ways to generate interest in their products online, which leads to more sales.

Video product descriptions are hugely effective for this purpose as they go a step further than the standard text and photograph descriptions; they tell a story and allow the customer to see the product that they are considering buying in action.

As a result, the customer has a clearer idea of the product and can make a more informed decision to buy it. This is especially useful for things that many still like to see in person before buying, for example clothing, jewellery, or automobiles.

Why Use Video Content For Your Business?
You can see for yourself just how effective the results are. Every business, which has an online presence, should use video content in some form or another.

With video now being more and more accessible, even the smallest of businesses with the tightest of budgets can afford to use video content to some extent, even if it is just Snapchat stories or Facebook Live videos.

It has levelled the playing fields and made it possible for small businesses to compete with the major brands out there.

Even if you own a business, which does not sell products online, you can still use platforms such as YouTube to upload videos which describe your products or services, before sharing these on your social media pages. This can be effective in generating more interest and boosting your sales.

Whether your business is based online or not, it is absolutely vital to have some sort of online presence – whether this be a website, blog, social media profiles or ideally, all three. Posting videos online can not only make your company more popular and help you reach a wider audience, it can also improve your business website’s SEO and even your local SEO (where you can target customers in your locality).

Your Customers Expect to See Videos
As video content has become more and more popular for reaching out to and connecting with customers online, there has been an increase in market demand for it.

Today’s customers are increasingly expecting their favourite businesses and brands to provide them with video content to watch whether it be advertisements, informational videos, product reviews, product descriptions, or simply videos for their entertainment.

With video featuring more on social networking sites and apps such as Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram, the modern consumers of today expect to be able to connect with the brands that they associate with via video content.

Customer Satisfaction
Today’s customers are savvy. They are not only looking for products and services, which meet their needs. It is becoming increasingly more important for customers to connect with and relate to the brands, which they purchase from. Because of this, video marketing is an essential component when it comes to making sure that your customers are fully satisfied with the type of service that they receive.

Gone are the days when customer service ended when the phone is hung up or when the customer leaves the store. Thanks to social media, customer service and relations is now an on-going thing, which must be addressed and improved continuously.

Customers are not only going to judge your brand based on their experience when browsing for and purchasing products/services, but also on the way in which your brand communicates with them and portrays itself on social media.

Because of this, video content provides businesses of all sizes with a prime opportunity to improve customer satisfaction levels and work to keep their existing and potential customers happy.

Summary
Videos drive traffic and engagement, they convey information better than other types of content and promote trust in the brand and its products. Little wonder then, that video is becoming a critical component of every company’s marketing mix.

Taking Action
We know that many businesses find it daunting creating online videos or they simply just don’t have the time. If that sounds like you, then please contact us today to find out just how easy it is for us to help you set up a very successful and profitable online video marketing campaign. Do it today before your competitors do.

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